The 12 questions investors will ask
What each question is really testing, and the answers that end a conversation early.
By Julian Zhu · Published 30 September 2026
An investor conversation is not a test of enthusiasm. It is a test of whether the business can be described precisely, by the people running it.
The twelve questions below come up in almost every round, at almost every stage. Each one is followed by what the investor is actually trying to confirm, and by the kind of answer that quietly ends the conversation. None of them require a polished deck. They require that the answers already exist.
Read together, the twelve point at one thing: whether the people running the business understand it better than the person funding it. Preparation is therefore not a marketing exercise. It is the work of knowing your own numbers, decisions and risks well enough to be questioned about them.
The twelve questions
What does the business sell, and to whom?
Confirming that one customer group can be named precisely. A weak answer describes a whole market, and would fit almost any company in the sector.
Why do customers choose you over the alternative?
Confirming that the advantage is real and specific. A weak answer says the product is better quality, without saying better than what, or measured how.
How does one sale make money?
Confirming that unit economics exist and are known. A weak answer gives total revenue and total cost, with no view of a single sale.
What does it cost to win a customer, and how long until that is repaid?
Confirming whether growth funds itself or is permanently subsidised. A weak answer quotes a marketing budget with no payback figure attached to it.
Who leaves, and why?
Confirming that retention is understood rather than assumed. A weak answer gives one churn percentage, with no view by customer group or by period.
What did you believe last year that turned out to be wrong?
Confirming that the team updates its view when evidence changes. A weak answer has no example at all, or offers one that is really a disguised success story.
What will the next twelve months look like, and what would make you change the plan?
Confirming that the money has a specific job, with decision points attached. A weak answer lists growth targets with no trigger for stopping anything.
What is the biggest risk, and what are you doing about it?
Confirming that the founder sees the risk before anyone else does. A weak answer says competition, with no view of who, when or how it bites.
Who is on the cap table, and who decides?
Confirming that ownership and decision rights are settled. A weak answer still needs another conversation with a co-founder or an early backer.
How much are you raising, and what does it buy?
Confirming that the number was derived rather than chosen. A weak answer names a figure with no milestones attached to it.
What happens if this round does not happen?
Confirming that the business has options and room to negotiate. A weak answer assumes the money arrives, and treats the alternative as unthinkable.
Why us?
Confirming that you know who you are talking to. A weak answer is complimentary, and would work equally well for any other investor.
The 90 days before you raise
Preparation is not a document. It is three steps, in this order. Done out of order, a raise usually takes far longer than planned, because the same questions keep returning to the numbers.
Days 1 to 30: make the numbers agree
One internal version of revenue, cost, cash and retention, matching the bank and the accounting records. If two people produce different figures for the same month, settle that before any meeting.
Days 31 to 60: write the answers, not the deck
Take the twelve questions above and write a plain answer to each. Keep it to a few pages. The document is for you. The deck is a summary of it.
Days 61 to 90: test the answers on someone who is not being polite
An advisor, a board member, an experienced operator. Ask them to attack the weakest answer, then rewrite it. Do not spend these weeks on formatting.
Write the twelve answers first. The deck is much easier once the answers already exist.
Two habits make the difference in the room itself. Answer the question that was asked, in the first sentence, then add the context. And where something is genuinely not known yet, say so and describe how it will be found out. Investors expect uncertainty. They rarely forgive an answer that pretends there is none.
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